“TOWARD THE LIGHT”
Youth Program – Alpha Phi Alpha
1001 Tennessee
02/06/07

I would like to thank Alpha Phi Alpha for its youth mentoring program. Our youth, precious themselves, represent something very near and dear to me: our future. Programs like these help light the way for both individual youths and for our community. In preparing to speak to you today, I asked myself a question, and I ask you the same:

“What must this community, you, and I do to light the way for these youth to a future of success and a well-led life? Better yet, what must we do to move these youth ‘toward the light’?”

I have no reservations in telling you pride is essential to this mission that we share. Pride, ego, self-esteem – whatever else you might want to call it – fuels the lamp that lights the way to success. That holds true not only for presidents, businessmen and professional athletes, but for people in every occupation and walk of life.

The pride I’m talking about is not entirely the same kind of pride that some of you are probably thinking about. I’m talking about a larger sense of pride, not of selfishness.

I ran for mayor because of memories I have of Pine Bluff from my youth. Now, some of those memories aren’t good ones, but the very fact that I stand before you today, during Black History Month, as mayor of this city shows that in some respects Pine Bluff has changed for the better.

Other memories, however, are good ones. They are of people, places and events that define for me a cherished community that helped to instill character in me, character comprised of such values as pride.

But why have I singled out pride as being so valuable to our youth and to our future? Because without pride, without a sense among our youth that they as individuals have worth and something to contribute, they – and we – will fail to achieve success.

Pride means dignity. Pride means you won’t give up, despite adversity. Pride means you will accept nothing less than continued improvement and success. In the end, isn’t that what we want for Pine Bluff and for our youth?

Now, we know that we need to work together to instill pride in our youth, but how do we go about it? The objectives of this mentoring program, “Toward the Light”, are wonderful ways to start. They are all effective means of instilling pride in our youth because they not only provide examples of success, of the well-led life, but in doing so provide goals and demonstrate means of achieving those goals. Goals lead to accomplishment, and nothing nourishes pride like accomplishment.

So, I hope you will join Alpha Phi Alpha and me in making the installation of pride in our youth our personal mission, one that will move them toward the light.

And just think, with such an accomplishment under our belts, what a sense of pride we will feel.

Thank you.